A must for all contenders in the packaging and related industries, the full-spectrum packaging trade expo will be showcasing the very best that these industries offer.

Recognised for its ability to link together people and products, build quality business connections and facilitate sales, Africa’s most progressive packaging, printing, plastics, food processing and labelling trade expo, Propak Africa will be taking place from 8-11 March, at the Expo Centre, Nasrec in Johannesburg.

Propak Africa, together with co-located shows The GAPP Print Expo, Pro-Plas Expo, FoodPro Expo and Pro-Label Expo, will provide a platform for over 200 exhibitors to showcase cutting-edge innovations, technologies, machinery, products, consumables, systems and services. The show is supported by The Institute of Packaging SA, Packaging SA, Printing SA and Plastics SA.

“We are excited that Propak Africa will be taking place as a live event this year,” says Mark Anderson, portfolio director at Specialised Exhibitions, a division of Montgomery Group. “The face-to-face interaction that is at the heart of exhibitions has been missed and although online events and virtual exhibitions filled the void and created an environment where buyers and sellers could engage remotely, these fell short of the in-person, face-to-face experience.”

Many exhibitors will have live demonstrations of machinery on their stands.

Visitors to the Akura Engineering stand will see how easy it is to operate a Bramidan Vertical Baler machine.  Efficient compressing of bulky waste materials will dramatically reduce volumes for cheaper storage, handling and transport. Many waste materials may be recovered and recycled, resulting in possible cost recuperation, or even profit, on company disposal programs.

OMRON will showcase its fully simulated flexible production environments at Propak Africa. Visitors will see the OMRON TM cobot in action and learn how they can increase the flexibility, quality and speed of production and also enable companies to respond rapidly to changing market conditions.

Further, Robatech will be demonstrating how high-precision adhesive application can conserve resources and glue packaging neatly and quickly. With their new adhesive application system for primary and secondary packaging, users enter a new dimension in the industrial adhesive application.

HG Molenaar will be presenting its turnkey and greenfield solutions with an emphasis on the hygienic and efficient processing of liquids, prepared foods and fresh fruit. On view will be a Linear rinsing machine and visitors will also be able to see a robot in action demonstrating Robotic palletizing and de-palletizing.

Live demonstrations at the Zibo Containers stand will be showing the versatility of their Italian built tray sealing machines in operation. Capable of MAP packing, vacuum skin packing or simply sealing only, all possible by choosing the relevant machine setting.

Seminars, conferences, theme days

Free-to-attend seminars will be taking place across the four days, as well as two conferences: the Institute of Packaging SA’s ‘Think Tank’ conference on March 8 & 9 and Printing SA conference on March 10. Conference pre-booking is required. There will also be an ‘every day a themed day’ experience. Day one will focus on new products and day two will highlight sustainability. Day three places attention on the occupational health and safety of the industry, and on the last day the theme is ‘local is lekker’ South African day. 

“We have been working hard behind the scenes connecting with our partners, integrating latest exhibition trends and technologies, and planning our educational conferences, free seminars, theme days and experiential activities. We are looking forward to the show,” Anderson concludes.

All Covid-19 regulations will be in place at Propak Africa.